Pray For The Innocent
by Annastesia LaFayette
Summary: Starfleet thinks they have made a new friend as things go terribly wrong and Trip finds himself caught in the middle of the destruction that he cannot control and must come to terms with his own pain of causing innocent lives to be destroyed.


**A/N:**_I still haven't figured out how to use the chapters feature yet. Sorry about that. There are actually 12 chapters in this. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and your reviews are appreciated_**. **

**Pray For The Innocent**

**Chapter 1**

Trip was slowly coming to as he felt his eyes stinging. He tried to move but couldn't and didn't know why. The room was dark except a screen in front of him, showing him horrible images. He tried, and failed, to close his eyes to block out the images that were being forced onto him.

From the darkness he heard a man's voice he didn't recognize. "Don't resist, Commander. It'll only hurt more if you resist." Trip looked down at himself the best he could and was able to see he was strapped into a chair. His eyes were being forcibly held open with a wire speculum device. The device's intended purpose was for eye surgery, but in his case, it was being used to force him to watch the images that were flooding his brain.

He felt the sting of lubricating drops being placed into each eye as he once again heard the voice speaking. "Resisting will only make things harder for you. It could cause permanent brain damage. We wouldn't want that would we, Commander?" Trip tried to speak, tried to struggle but couldn't.

He tried to recall how he got into this situation. _Think Trip. Think! What's the last thing you remember?_ Trip thought to himself trying to coax his mind into remembering. _I was...was on the ship? My quarters? Engineering? No. That's not right. I was...somewhere. Going somewhere! Yes that's it! I was in shuttle pod two going somewhere. Where was I going? I was...was going to...a planet! On leave? No. I had work to do. Yes, that's right, work! What? Where?_

He felt the stinging in his eyes again. He didn't like the sting of the drops in his eyes and tried to concentrate on remembering. _I was in pod two going to... Kantaanah. Yes. They needed...something...about weather? That can't be right. What do I have to do with a planet's weather? I'm an engineer, I fix things, not tell the forecast. Wait! Weather...fix things! That's it. Now I remember! Kantaanah relies on a planetary wide system that controls their weather climate. Something was wrong with it and they needed help fixing it. Then what happened? Did I crash? No. Was there another ship? An enemy? No. There was...was...a light. Yes! A blinding light. Then...then... Then I woke up here._ More drops. _Will you stop it with those damned drops! It burns! Why can't I speak? Why are they showing me these awful images? What are they doing to me? Who is doing this to me? Why am I here?_

He tried to struggle again and once again heard the voice. "Just relax Commander. Don't fight it." Trip could feel a warm tear as it rolled down his cheek and his finger twitched. He heard another voice, female this time saying "The paralyzing agent is starting to wear off. Give him another dose."

He felt the pinch of a needle enter the side of his neck and the burning as the medication was being injected into his vein. All he could do was sit and stare as the images played on in front of his eyes.

**Chapter 2**

Trip had returned from Kantaanah, the repairs complete and went to the bridge. Captain Archer was anxious to see Trip and hear about his time with Starfleet's new friends.

The Columbia had made first contact with the Kantaanahans over six months ago. When Starfleet heard about the problem with their climate control device, they sent Enterprise to help, hoping this would be a first step into bring the Kantaanahans into the fold of the newly formed planetary alliances.

XXX

Archer recalled the conversation with Admiral Black a little over a week ago. "Why Enterprise, sir? Can't another ship be sent to deal with this?"

Admiral Black's image through Jon's office view screen replied. "Enterprise is Starfleet's flag ship, Jon. If we're going to make an alliance with these people, it would be a good impression to have our best people go help them. Besides, we both know that Commander Tucker is the best engineer in Starfleet. If he can't fix the problem then...it can't be fixed."

Jon tried to argue his point to the admiral. "Yes sir. I agree but...Trip thinks it could take five, six days, maybe longer for the repairs. We have a rendezvous scheduled with a cargo ship in five days. Our ship's supplies are getting dangerously low. We _can't_ miss that rendezvous, sir."

"I understand your concern, Captain. If push comes to shove, maybe you could leave Tucker with the Kantaanahans for a few days to make your appointment, then pick him up later."

"All due respect, sir. I can't do that. Trip is in charge of inventory and supply storage. He has to be here when we get our shipment."

Admiral Black let out a sigh then flatly said. "The Kantaanahans reached out to us for help, Jon. If we're going to make an alliance with them, we have to make this work. Do you understand? Make this work somehow, Captain. Black out."

Jon watched as Admiral Black pressed a button on his end, terminating the connection.

XXX

Jon turned to Trip as he walked onto the bridge. "Four days. Good job Trip. It's going to be close, but we'll make our rendezvous with the cargo ship. I've missed talking to you, I've been anxious to hear all about it."

"Yeah. Sorry we couldn't get communications through. Working that close to the weather device and all. Just too much interface." Trip replied.

Jon wanted to hear all about this new planet and its people. "So. Tell us. What's it like down there? What are the Kantaanahans like?"

Trip smiled, ready to tell his story to his anxious Captain. "Oh. They're friendly enough people, Cap'n. They went out of their way to accommodate me. They even somehow found out that I love fried catfish. One of them got this fish and cooked it up for me. I swear, it tasted just like catfish! And they had this alcohol, pretty powerful stuff!"

"Really? What kind of alcohol?" Jon asked.

Trip shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It was green."

Then Jon asked about the planet and Trip answered. "The planet? It was hot, tropical. Kinda reminded me of the Amazon rainforest. I don't think they got some of my jokes, but all in all, they're good people."

Hoshi suddenly spoke up. "We're getting an incoming message from the Kantaanah Prime Minister, sir."

"On screen." Jon ordered. As the image of the Prime Minister filled the main view screen Jon smiled and said. "Prime Minister. I hope my engineer's repairs are working well for you."

The Prime Minister, Te'Crik, replied. "Yes Captain. The repairs your man did are excellent. We shouldn't have any more trouble in the foreseeable future. I wanted to thank you for helping us. Mr. Tucker...err..._Trip_ did a great job. Please pass my thanks on to him."

"You can tell him yourself, Minister. He's right here." Jon said.

Trip moved next to Jon so that he could be seen by the Prime Minister. "Thank you, Trip. Our best engineers have been working on this issue for months and you solved the problem in days. How did you possibly do that?"

"I don't know, Minister. I guess I just think like a machine. I'm glad to hear it's all working out for you. If you need help again, just let me know."

Te'Crik gave a crooked smile as he said "We could really use someone like you in our engineering team. What would you say?"

Trip shook his head and smiled. "Sorry Minister. Starfleet owns my life."

The Prime Minister chuckled. "I think I'm getting...uh..._the hang_? of your human sense of humor. Well, if you ever change your mind about Starfleet, you'll always have a job on Kantaanah."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

Te'Crik made a gesture with his hand then said "Ka'Kato." Trip suddenly stiffened, and walked away while Te'Crik continued talking with Jon.

When the transmission ended Jon said "Trip, you're not really..." Jon looked around and realized Trip was no longer on the bridge then thought to himself. _Guess he has a lot of work to do. He could've at least said goodbye._

Jon turned to Hoshi and asked. "What was that word he said? Ka...ka..."

"Ka'Kato, sir. I don't know. There isn't a translation in the linguistic database. Maybe it's some sort of farewell? Like good luck or something?"

"Oh. Well. Ka'Kato to them too." Jon replied.

**Chapter 3**

The Enterprise made their rendezvous with the cargo ship with time to spare. Trip was in cargo bay two as containers were being moved about. He was suddenly startled by someone talking to him.

Trip turned to look. An ensign was standing next to him with a puzzled look on her face. "Did you say something, ensign?" Trip asked.

"Yes sir. I asked where you wanted me to put these potatoes, sir."

_Potatoes?_ Trip thought. _What the hell is she asking me about potatoes for?_ Trip looked down and noticed the cargo manifest in his hands then more questions came to his mind. _Are we offloading the supplies from the cargo ship? When did we make our rendezvous? Why don't I remember this?_

He looked over and the ensign was still waiting for a response. "Uh. Ask chef what he wants to do with them."

"Sir, that's what you said five minutes ago. Chef said he wanted them in storage."

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I don't know, ensign. Put them in storage bay three, junction twenty-two beta, I guess."

The ensign crinkled her brows. "Commander, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. Why?"

"Sir, junction twenty-two beta is for hazardous materials."

"Oh. Yeah. I was just testing you ensign." Trip lied to cover his obvious mistake. "Put them in junction fourteen gamma."

"Yes sir." The ensign replied, then asked again with concern. "Are you sure you're ok Commander? You don't look very well."

Trip shook his head. "Guess I've been working too hard. Maybe I should ask Cap'n about a vacation...in about ten years."

As the ensign walked away, Trip momentarily felt a little dizzy and thought to himself. _Maybe I really do need to talk to Cap'n about a vacation._

As a lieutenant walked by, Trip stopped him handing the manifest to him. "Take care of the rest of this, Lieutenant Jeffries. I'm going to my quarters. I'm not feeling very well." Trip explained, leaving the cargo bay.

In his quarters, Trip laid in his bed trying to relax when the door chime rang. "Come in." He said. The door opened and Captain Archer asked "Are you alright, Trip? I heard you left the cargo bay because you're not feeling well."

Trip sat up in his bed. "I'm ok, Cap'n. Just been working too hard and my body's fighting back." Jon walked over to sit on the bed next to Trip, placing the back of his hand on Trip's forehead to see if he felt hot. "Doesn't feel like you have a fever. What happened?"

"I don't know. I was in the cargo bay, but I don't remember how I got there, then I got dizzy."

Jon was very concerned by this. "Do you think you should have Phlox check you out?"

"Naw. I've just been working too hard and need some rest...if that's ok with you Cap'n."

"Sure Trip. Take the rest of the day off. Take a nap, but if you still feel bad, go see Phlox. That's an order." Jon was still concerned about his friend as Trip smiled and said "Yes sir."

XXX

Trip was asleep when he was suddenly woken by the sound of the warning alarms. He reached over to his communication panel. Pushing a button he sad "Engineering. Report." He heard the voice of Kelby coming though the intercom. "The ship sir. It's out of control."

"Out of control? What do you mean out of control?"

"We jumped to warp four and we can't stop it. Helm isn't responding and we can't shut down the core."

"I'm on my way!" Trip said as he jumped out of bed rushing to engineering.

Trip rushed into engineering, he had time to think about the problem between his quarters and there and instantly started barking out orders, pointing to various members of his team.

"Pull the plasma injector relays. Yank out those control chips. Kelby! Pull the core's damned computer board if you have to! We gotta stop this bird!"

The crew jumped to, doing as instructed, as Trip jumped up to the platform of the warp core's main computer and jerked down the levers that should have shut the core down. When that didn't work, he pushed the levers up then jerked them down again still not getting the result he expected.

Trip went to the side of the core and pulled a panel down exposing the computer system. He began pulling one computer chip after another until he felt the ship slowing its momentum.

He heard one of the other engineers yelling. "Sir! The weapons are coming on line!"

Before Trip could react, he felt the ship shudder as a torpedo was launched. "Oh my God! What just happened?" Trip said in complete shock.

He walked over to the comm panel and pushed a button. "Engineering to bridge. What's going on?" Jon's voice crackled over the intercom. "Trip. You'd better get up here."

**Chapter 4**

As Trip walked onto the bridge, his eyes instantly went to the main view screen where he saw debris floating in front of the Enterprise.

With a mix of shock and concern he asked. "What happened? Were we attacked?"

Jon shook his head. "No Trip. I didn't order this. The ship just jumped into warp and fired on that...what used to be...vessel. No one did anything to cause this. We couldn't stop it either. Any ideas as to what happened?"

Trip thought for a moment. "No sir. It shouldn't have happened. It's impossible that the ship did this by itself. What kinda vessel was it?"

T'Pol spoke up to give the grim news. "It was a civilian ship. Andorian."

"My God!" Trip exclaimed in shock. "Civilian? Are you sure?"

"Yes Commander. They were only equipped with minimal defense weapons."

Hoshi added more to the bad news. "Captain. External communications is down. We can't send or receive messages. All we have is internal ship comms.

_Can things get any worse?_ Jon thought to himself. He turned his attention to Travis, hoping for a little good news. "Travis, set course for...Earth."

"Aye sir." Travis said grimly. As he tapped on the buttons to execute his orders, he instantly knew something was wrong and _really_ didn't want to be the one to tell the Captain. "Sir...helm isn't responding. We're stuck here."

"Hell's bells! Can this day possibly get any better?" Jon said exasperated by the situation.

Trip took his bridge station trying to figure out what was happening. After a few moments he turned to Jon. "I don't understand, Cap'n. All of this? It shouldn't be happening. It's impossible for all this to happen."

Suddenly, without warning, the ship powered up and once again jumped into warp. Jon hollered at Travis. "What's our heading, ensign?"

"Unknown sir. I'm not getting any readings."

After a few moments the ship dropped out of warp in front of another vessel then, as the bridge crew looked on in horror, fired a full barrage of torpedoes and phase cannons until the vessel was destroyed.

Jon turned to T'Pol as she checked her sensors, she stated "A Tellarite cargo ship. The same cargo ship we had our rendezvous with earlier."

Jon sank into his chair. "Trip. This has to stop. Now."

"Yes sir. I agree but, I don't know what to do."

Jon jumped up, spinning to look at Trip, with anger and fear in his voice. "Figure it out Trip! Before it happens again! Get my ship back under control!"

XXX

Trip was in engineering with half of his upper body in a control panel when he heard a voice behind him yelling. "_TRIP!"_ Startled, he bumped his head hard on the panel. He didn't look at who yelled at him as he crawled out and began standing, he angrily yelled back. "_WHAT?"_

He looked up and realized who it was. "Oh. Uh...Cap'n. Sorry. Yes sir. What can I do for ya?"

"Enterprise has attacked two more civilian ships. Denobulan and Orion. Have you figured anything out yet?"

"I know. I've been motoring the bridge from here. No sir. I just can't find any system problem that would cause this. The only explanation I can guess is..."

Trip stopped, looking around noticing other crew were in earshot. He looked at Jon and quietly said. "Maybe we should talk about this in my office." Jon gestured to Trip to lead the way.

As the door to Trip's office slid shut, he took the seat behind his desk as Jon sat in the chair on the opposite side. Trip had a dark look about him, he knew what he was about to say wouldn't sit too well with the Captain.

Trip let out a sigh before beginning. "Cap'n, I really hate to suggest this, in fact I don't even wanna think that it's possible..."

"What Trip? What do you think is happening?"

"Sabotage sir. I can't imagine that anyone on the ship would do such a thing but...it's the only answer I can come up with."

Jon had a mixture of shock and anger as the words were spoken. "Sabotage? How? Who on this ship would do such a thing? Who would have the knowledge or command codes to execute this?

Trip took a moment before answering. "I would hate to think anyone on this ship would do something like this and I _pray_ that I'm wrong. Who would have the knowledge or command codes? A few of my engineering team, me, Reed, T'Pol, and...well...you, sir."

"_ME?_ You really think I would do something like this?"

"No! Of course not! You asked who, so I ran down a list. I included myself in that list. You don't think _I_ woulda done something like this...do ya?"

"No, Trip. I've known you too long to know you wouldn't. I'm sorry, you're right, we need to consider all possibilities. It's just so hard to accept that _anyone_ on the ship is a saboteur."

"Look Cap'n, like I said, it's just a theory and I'm praying...I mean _really_ praying I'm wrong. In fact, it wouldn't hurt for you to do some praying too."

Jon looked at Trip in a standoffish manner. "Trip, you know I don't believe in those ancient myths like you do but, if it makes you feel better, you have my permission to pray extra hard in my place."

"I always pray extra hard for you, Cap'n."

Suddenly Trip's color drained from his face and his eyes began moving about the room in a fast pace trying to focus. Jon stood and grabbed Trip by the arm. "Trip? What's wrong? Are you ok? Trip!" He could see that Trip was trying to focus on him, trying to lock eyes with him, trying to speak but couldn't. Jon reached down and pressed the comm button harder than necessary. "Archer to sickbay! Medical emergency, Trip's office! Now!"

**Chapter 5**

Trip was in sickbay sitting up on the bio-bed. "I'm ok. I just got a little dizzy, that's all. I'm fine now."

Jon looked at him. "You're not ok. Something is wrong with you." He turned his attention to the doctor. "Phlox, he had to leave the cargo bay earlier because he was dizzy. I told him it was ok to get some rest, but if he didn't get better to come see you. What's wrong with him?"

Phlox pulled Jon to a monitor that had an image of Trip's brain scan and began to explain. "The Commander's frontal cerebral cortex is over simulated."

"He said he's been working hard. Is this just exhaustion?"

"Perhaps." Phlox stated. He turned his attention back to Trip. "How much sleep have you gotten in the past week, Commander? Hmm?"

Trip shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Average I guess."

"Oh come now, Commander. You can't fool me. I know better than anyone else that you push yourself too hard. Did you sleep when you were on Kantaanah?"

Trip looked between Phlox and Jon, not sure how to answer the question. "Answer him, Trip." Jon said.

"Yeah. I guess. Some."

Phlox huffed at the answer. "In other words, not enough."

Trip honestly couldn't remember when or how much sleep he had while on Kantaanah, but needed some sort of excuse. "I had a lotta work to do. I figured I'd catch up on my sleep when I got back here, but then the crap hit the fan. Ok, so yeah. Not enough sleep in the past week."

Phlox turned to the Captain. "My orders are that he get a full eight hours of sleep, maybe longer, immediately."

"WHAT?" Trip exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what's happening? I don't have time for that right now!"

"I'm sorry doctor, but I have to agree with Trip on this one. I need my chief engineer right now, more than ever." Jon said in the hopes that Phlox would be more lenient.

Phlox turned to both of them. "I know full well what's going on but, if the stimulation levels to his cerebral cortex continues to rise, Commander Tucker could collapse from the exhaustion, or wose, he could die. The best thing for him right now is sleep."

Trip didn't like to be pulled from duty, especially when there was a problem as major as this. "Ok. What about two hou-"

Phlox cut him off. "Eight hours, _minimum_. No negotiating this time. It's either eight hours on your own or I'll give you a sedative to knock you out for twelve. Doctor's orders. Your choice."

Trip gave Jon a pleading look. "Sorry Trip. I don't like it either since I really need you right now but, not even a Captain can override a doctor's orders."

"Fine. I'll go to my quarters and go to bed." Trip said sounding defeated.

XXX

Captain Archer gave T'Pol the task of conducting the investigation of a possible saboteur. Normally a task like this would fall to his chief of security, but since Malcolm had previously been a member of Section 31, he didn't want to risk it.

Even though Malcolm had cut his ties to Section 31 a few years ago, Jon was worried that another operative might have somehow slipped onto the ship. If the investigation turned out to reveal this to be the case, he didn't want Malcolm caught in the middle.

The door chime to his ready room chirped. "Come in". As the door slid open, he saw T'Pol standing on the other side. "T'Pol, come in. Have you found anything? Please tell me this isn't sabotage. Please tell me something in the ship's system went haywire."

T'Pol sat in a chair on the other side of Jon's desk and glanced down at the PADD she was holding. "I'm sorry Captain. It looks like we do have a saboteur on board. I don't think you're going to like it."

She handed the PADD to him. Jon looked at it, his mouth dropped open and his face turned white. "No! This...this can't be! It...it just can't be true."

**Chapter 6**

Trip was in his quarters sleeping when he was woken by the sound of his door chime. In a groggy voice he said "Come in."

The door opened Jon, T'Pol and Malcolm entered the room. Sitting up and still groggy he asked. "What's going on?"

Jon was angry and a bit confused. "You tell me, Trip. Why did you do it? Are you working for someone? Section 31? Some other organization? Did you do this on your own? Why Trip! Why?"

Trip was completely confused by his Captain's questions. "What are you talking about? Do what?"

T'Pol answered his question. "I have conducted an investigation. Your command codes were used to bypass the ship's main computer systems and disable communications. And your codes were transmitted to..." T'Pol choked a little on the next word. "Romulas. Each time the ship went to warp, attacking a civilian vessel, it was your codes that were used to direct the ship."

Trip sat in complete shock, unable to comprehend or believe what he was hearing. "But I didn't do this! You have to believe me! I didn't...oh, I get it. I'm dreaming, this is some sort of nightmare." Trip raised his head, yelling into the air. "Ok Trip! Wake up now. Trip? Trip! Wake up!"

He looked at the three in his room who were looking back at him with sadness and pity. "It's not a dream, Trip. Just tell us why." Archer said quietly.

Trip looked at Jon with tears streaming down his face. "It wasn't me, Cap'n. You_ have_ to believe me. I would never do this, please believe me."

Jon let out a sigh. "Trip, the gig is up. Just tell me who you're working for. Is it Section 31?"

Trip was becoming angry that his friends and colleagues were accusing him of such a horrible act. "No! I'm not working for anyone! I'm tellin' ya. I. Didn't. Do. This! Maybe someone got my codes somehow? Trying to set me up? Trying to cover their own tracks? I don't know, but I do know it wasn't me! Why don't you believe that?" More tears streamed down his face.

Handing the PADD to Trip, Jon broke the grim news. "Trip, we have you on security footage. It _was_ you that disabled the computer system. Why Trip, why? Just tell us why."

Trip sat looking at the PADD and the footage of himself in shock. "I-I. It's not me. Not me. I didn't."

"I'm sorry Trip, I have no other choice." Jon said, then turned to Malcolm. "Trip is confined to his quarters, Reed. Post guards."

Malcolm began to protest. "Sir. Shouldn't we put him in the brig? It would be better security there."

Jon glared at Malcolm. "I don't think that will be necessary. Now that Trip knows we're on to him, he can sit in his quarters and think about the innocent lives that are now gone."

"Yes sir." Malcolm said with a sickening feeling.

As the three turned to leave, Trip said in a small voice. "Cap'n?"

"I'm sorry Trip, but like I said, I have no other choice. Once we get the ship back under control and communications back up, I'm going to have to send Starfleet my report. I'm sure this will end in court martial for you...possibly murder charges. Think about all of this. Let me know when you're ready to confess, it might go better for you if you just tell us why." Archer said before turning back to leave.

Archer and T'Pol walked down the corridor, leaving Malcolm behind to stand guard. As they walked, they felt the ship suddenly jerk into warp. "Oh God! Not again!" Jon said as the two began running to head back to the bridge.

The door to the bridge slid open and Jon burst through. "Hoshi!"

Hoshi was sitting in the Captain's chair. Getting up to indicate she was turning command back to the Captain she said. "We're in warp, sir. We're not getting any readings as to our course."

"Any luck getting communication back on line? We need to warn Starfleet what's happening here."

"No sir. Whatever...whoever took out communications did a good job of it." Hoshi said. Jon hadn't told the rest of the bridge crew as to Trip's involvement, as he was still holding on to hope that there was some other explanation for it.

The ship dropped out of warp. Jon spun to look at T'Pol as she said. "A Vulcan transport ship."

Jon sank down in his chair. He knew there was nothing anyone could do but watch the horror that was about to happen. A tear escaped his eye as he watched the Vulcan ship being destroyed.

XXX

Several hours had passed and Jon decided he'd try to talk to Trip again, hoping for some answers this time. He took Malcolm with him, as a witness to a possible confession, or God forbid, protection.

As the pair rounded the corner, they saw the security guard Malcolm ordered to stand watch at Trip's door on the floor unconscious. They rushed to the lieutenant, waking him and getting him back to his feet.

"What happened?" Malcolm demanded.

"Commander Tucker, sir. The door opened and before I knew it...he hit me over the head."

"Can you make it to sickbay?"

"I think so, sir. I'm sorry I let this happen. I should've been more vigilant."

Malcolm was concerned for his officer's health, and tried to reassure him. "It's ok, lieutenant, Commander Tucker is a very resourceful fella. We should've had him in the brig." He shot a look at the Captain who was jabbing at the control panel, opening the door.

Jon looked inside then turned to Malcolm. "He's not here. You're right, maybe I should've locked him in the brig." He turned his attention to the young lieutenant "Get to sickbay, have Phlox check you out. We'll deal with this."

Reed had already taken out his communicator from his pocket. He flipped it open then said. "Reed to bridge. Locate Commander Tucker."

A few seconds and T'Pol's voice cracked over the hand device, sounding confused. "Internal scans can't pinpoint his location. It's showing that he's simultaneously in his quarters, the crew mess, cargo bay two, sickbay, shuttlebay three, and on the bridge."

Reed looked at Archer. "That leaves engineering, then. Should I get a security team down there?"

Jon thought for a second. "No. If he is in engineering, we don't want to tip our hand to him. Let's go."

Along the way Jon decided that he and Reed should go in separate entrances to catch Trip off guard and surround him. As Jon came through the main entrance, he saw some of the engineering staff along a wall looking shocked. Near the warp core he saw Trip holding a phase pistol to Hoshi's head with one hand and the other around her throat. Trip had picked up Hoshi somewhere along the way and was now using her as a hostage.

Jon held his pistol up at Trip and began speaking cautiously at him. "Trip? What's going on here?"

"Don't come any closer! I swear I'll blow her head off! Stay back!" Trip yelled.

Jon understood the desperation of the situation and flipped his pistol back in his hands. Holding both hands up in front of him he said. "Ok Trip. I'm just going to stay right here. Why don't you lower your pistol and talk to me? You don't need to hurt Hoshi. We can work this out. Just let her go, ok?"

He could see Trip tightening his grip around Hoshi's neck. "No! I said stay back!"

Jon slowly bent down and put his pistol on the floor in front of him, then slowly stood back up holding his hands in front of him at chest level. "Ok Trip. I dropped my pistol. Your turn. Let's talk this out. No need for anyone to get hurt here. Why don't you just let Hoshi, and the rest of the team go and we'll talk about this, just the two of us."

Trip looked confused and unsure of what to do. He banged his hand with the pistol in it on the side of his head a couple of times before holding it back to Hoshi's head. "Alright! The rest of them can go, but she stays here!"

Jon looked over to the other engineers and jerked his head towards the door. As the team quickly departed, Jon turned back around and saw Malcolm quietly moving across the upper scaffolding to take a position.

"Captain?" Hoshi said as she struggled to breathe. "It's going to be ok, ensign. Isn't that right Trip? It's going to be ok. It's just us now. Talk to me. What's going on?" Jon said trying to keep Trip's attention focused on him.

Trip tightened his grip around her neck more and Jon could hear Hoshi gasping for air. "Trip. Please don't do this. Hoshi is your friend, it would destroy you if you hurt her. Please let her go. Talk to me. Let me help you."

Trip banged his hand against his head again. "I have to complete my mission! That's all that matters! My mission! Yes! My mission!"

Jon crinkled his eyebrows. "What mission? Tell me about this mission of yours, maybe I can help you complete it."

"No! It's classified! I can't tell you, I can't tell anyone!" Trip tightened his grip even more and Hoshi's eyes began to flutter as the life was being squeezed out of her.

Jon glanced up and saw that Malcolm was now in position. He nodded to him then Malcolm fired.

**Chapter 7**

Jon was in sickbay standing with Phlox at a monitor looking at a brain scan as Phlox was explaining. "You see here, and here?" As he pointed to different places of the scan.

"What does this mean, doc? Was Trip in some sort of dream state from the exhaustion? Is that why he did this?"

"No Captain, I'm afraid it's much more serious than that." Phlox said while pushing a button on the monitor's control to bring up a second scan of Trip's brain. The two scans were now displayed side by side on the screen as Phlox continued.

"This is a scan I took three months ago at Mr. Tucker's last physical. There are no abnormalities. You can see the drastic difference between the two scans. Even if the Commander had been suffering from lack of sleep for the past three months, it wouldn't be this drastic."

"I don't understand. What's happening to him?"

"The only thing that would cause this is some sort of hypnosis. Sometime in the past three months, Commander Tucker has been brainwashed."

"You mean to tell me that somehow, someone got a hold of Trip for a few hours and_ brainwashed_ him into doing these things?"

"No Captain. This level of hypnosis would've taken days, weeks even, of continuous psychological torture."

"The only time in the last three months that Trip's been off the ship by himself is when he went to...Kantaanah." Jon's stomach came up into his throat when he realized when, and _who_ did this to his friend.

Just then they heard Trip moaning as he was coming out from the stun shot he received from Malcolm. He tried to sit up, but quickly discovered he had been restrained to the bio-bed.

As Jon and Phlox walked over to him, he had fear in his eyes and voice. "What's happening? Why am I tied down? Cap'n what are you doing to me?"

Jon looked at him with great sadness. "Trip, Phlox says you been hypnotized...brainwashed. This is for your own protection, and the ship's protection as well. I'm sorry."

Trip looked at Phlox confused and angry. "What? You're crazy! I haven't been brainwashed! Cap'n...he's crazy! Get me outta here!"

"Trip, do you remember what happened in engineering? Holding a pistol to Hoshi's head? Almost choking her to death?" Jon asked with concern.

Trip's eyes grew wide. "Wh-WHAT!? No! I would never...NO!"

Phlox looked at Trip. "Commander, tell me about your visit to Kantaanah."

Trip grinned at them. Strange that he would be grinning at a time like this. He stated. "Oh. They're friendly enough people. They went out of their way to accommodate me. They even somehow found out that I love fried catfish. One of them got this fish and cooked it up for me. I swear, it tasted just like catfish! And they had this alcohol, pretty powerful stuff! It was green. The planet? It was hot, tropical. Kinda reminded me of the Amazon rainforest. I don't think they got some of my jokes, but all in all, they're good people."

Jon was shocked and looked at Phlox. "That's what he said when I asked him about the Kantaanahans. Word for word."

Phlox nodded his head. "As I suspected. A subliminal message to recite when asked about our new "friends". Tell me, Commander, what else did you eat while you were there? Did you try any of the local cuisine, hmm?"

Trip looked more confused now, but continued to grin. "One of them got this fish and cooked it up for me. I swear, it tasted just like catfish!"

"No Trip." Jon said trying to steer Trip into remembering something else. "What was _their_ food like? Was it bland? Salty? Spicy?"

Trip's grin began to fade as he tried to remember. He was shaking now and looked up with tears in his eyes. In a small voice he said. "C-Catfish?" Trip slammed his head into the pillow and let out a full blown sob. "Oh God! What's happening? Please Lord! Help me! Please! God, help me!" A tear ran down Jon's cheek as he watched his friend begging his deity for help.

Jon took Phlox by the arm and led him to the side while Trip continued with his sobs and prayers for help. "Can you reverse this...brainwashing?"

"Not without knowing the trigger. If I attempted to reverse it now, it could cause any number of problems. Brain damage would be the primary concern, but not knowing, he could be...programmed, for lack of a better word, to try to attempt suicide. I would need to know his trigger before attempting it."

"Trigger? What do you mean...trigger?"

"Something that was integrated into his brainwashing that causes the Commander to carry out these acts." Phlox shrugged. "It could be a sound, an object, smell, even a word. The possibilities are endless."

Jon thought for a moment then remembered the word that Te'Crik used when Trip suddenly left the bridge. He turned towards Trip then loudly said "Ka'Kato!"

Trip stopped his begging and sobbing as he stiffened. Without warning he became violent trying to break the straps holding him down and yelling. "What are you doing to me? Get me the hell outta here! I'll kill you! I'll kill you all! I have to finish my mission!"

Jon rushed over and held Trip by the shoulders. "What mission? What's your mission? Trip!"

"Go to hell! I'll kill you! All of you!"

Phlox went to Trip's side and jammed a hypo spray filled with sedatives into his neck. Jon hadn't noticed that Phlox retrieved the hypo spray and looked at him in shock. "What did you do that for? I need him awake. I need him to answer my questions."

Phlox calmly stated. "Captain, look at the Commander."

Jon turned to look as Trip was succumbing to the sedative. "Kill you...I'll...kill..." As Trip's eyes closed Jon saw the trail of blood oozing from his nose.

"What happened?" Jon asked.

"I believe it may be some sort of defense. In his hypnotic state, the Commander understood that he is being prevented from completing his...*ahem*...mission."

"What about when the sedative wears off?"

"I believe Mr. Tucker will wake up his old self. As if nothing happened."

"Now that you know his trigger word, can you reverse this?"

"I think so, but it will take time. Days, weeks, months...it's hard telling. There is another concern however, Commander Tucker went in and out of his trance without that word being used. I would suggest checking his quarters to see if there's some sort of device that may have been used as a proxy trigger."

Jon looked back at Trip and hoped, wished, even prayed that his friend would be cured. Then left.

**Chapter 8**

Jon was on the bridge and looking exhausted. It had been a full two days since this whole ordeal started. He hadn't slept, eaten or shaved. His mind was too preoccupied to think of such trivial things.

The Enterprise had attacked four more civilian ships during that time. Trip's quarters had been thoroughly searched where a device had indeed been found. The moment Phlox assured him that it wouldn't do any harm to Trip if it were destroyed, Jon took out his phase pistol and blasted it into little pieces.

The only solution that anyone, Trip included, could come up with to regain control of the ship required that the main computer control board be pulled. Shutting down all systems, including life support, for ten minutes to allow the computer to reset. Ten minutes without life support? This was not an option. Jon was at his wit's end.

He looked over to T'Pol and gave her a look that she knew meant he wanted to speak with her in private. They both got up, neither of them speaking and headed for the ready room.

When the door slid shut, Jon sat down with the full weight of the past days on top of him. "T'Pol, I think you know what we have to do to stop this."

"Yes sir. I understand. It's the only logical course left. Self-destruction."

"I don't know how to go about this. Should I give the crew some warning, give them time to prepare? Or should I just do this and get it over with, one second we're here, the next we're not?"

T'Pol thought for a moment. "Captain, every life has the deep seeded instinct for self-preservation. On the one hand, warning the crew may give time to prepare, time to make peace with this. On the other hand it could cause panic. I don't have any advice to give you. This is a decision that you, and you alone will have to make."

"T'Pol. I know this might not be the time for this but before we...go, I want to let you know, I have come to respect you a great deal since you first came on board. I had a misplaced judgement about you, simply because you're Vulcan, and I'm sorry for that. Since then, you have been more than a science officer, more than a first officer. You have been my advisor, confidant, and...close friend. I have valued that tremendously. I should have told you all of this before, and I'm sorry that I waited until now to let you know how special you are to me."

"You're special to me as well...Jon. I too have valued the friendship that has developed between us."

They sat looking at each other, knowing that there was something else to be said. Something that was still hanging thick in the air. Neither one would dare speak that something.

Suddenly there was a blow to the ship. They both knew Enterprise was under attack and jumped up heading back to the bridge.

When they walked onto the bridge Jon looked at the view screen to see the Columbia bearing down on them just as she fired her phase cannons at them.

"Malcolm, can you bring hull plating on line?" Jon asked with intensity.

"No sir. I already tried. Weapons aren't responding either. We're defenseless."

Somewhere inside, Jon knew that Starfleet had gotten news about what the Enterprise had done and dispatched Columbia to stop them.

"If I know Captain Hernandez as well as I think I do, she'll only target our engines and weapons. Get ready." Jon said as another hit shook the ship.

After several more hits to the ship, the engines and weapons were disabled, and Jon knew what was going to happen next. He pressed a button on the arm of his chair that caused a high pitched whistle over the ship's intercom. "All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare to be boarded by Starfleet personnel. Do as you're instructed by them. Do not...I repeat DO NOT resist them."

Just as Jon closed the ship's comm, five bodies materialize on the bridge. Captain Hernandez was in front of him pointing a phase rifle at his head. He held his hands up. "Erika. So good to see you again. I can explain. Please, come to my ready room."

Erika tightened her grip on the rifle. "I don't think so, Captain. You can explain from right there. What the hell have you been doing? Have you all gone mad?"

Jon started explaining everything he knew. About Trip. About the Kantaanahans. About the brainwashing. The reason Enterprise had been out of communication contact. The more he talked the more horrified Erika looked.

"My God, Jon. Is all this true? I mean, you have evidence to back up this story?"

"I have Phlox and Trip's brain scans, but so far that's it. If you and your team can help us get Enterprise back on line, I have no problems storming into Kantaanah and kicking that Minister's ass to the other side of the galaxy until he tells me why he did this to us."

XXX

Captain Hernandez agreed to help get the Enterprise back online. The Enterprise crew were offloading onto Columbia so that the main systems could be shut down. Jon had went to sickbay to assist Phlox in transporting Trip, who was still restrained to the bio-bed, protesting. "Cap'n. I'm tellin' ya, I'm fine. I can walk over to the Columbia like the rest of the crew."

Jon let out a sigh. "Trip, I know this isn't easy for you. It's not easy for me either, but it's for your protection."

"C'mon Cap'n. Do I really need to be strapped down like some kinda lunatic? I mean really! This is embarrassing! I'm fine. I won't hurt anymore ships. I promise. I'm fine."

"No Trip. You're not fine, not until Phlox reverses the brainwashing that's been done to you. It's for everyone's protection. Yours included."

"Well...can't we at least go in the back door? I don't need everyone pointing and staring at me."

"They won't be pointing and staring, Trip. The faster we move, the faster it'll be over with. Ok?"

"No. Not ok. I mean really."

Jon rolled his eyes. "Just shut up Trip and let's get this over with." He signaled to Phlox to start moving the bed.

**Chapter 9**

A mix of Enterprise and Columbia engineers were in the Enterprise's engineering room, along with Jon and Malcolm. As Jon pulled the last circuit from the main computer board, he felt the gravity disengage, and quickly magnetized his boots to keep from floating. The only lighting now were the lights coming from the crew's environmental suits.

"What now?" Reed asked

"Now we wait."

They waited a little longer than ten minutes, just to be sure the computer had time to reset. As one of the engineers reconnected the last of the wiring, the lights and noises of the ship came back to life.

Malcolm started to reach up to take his helmet off when Jon stopped him. "It'll take a few minutes for the ship to re-pressurize and have breathable air. Let's head up to the bridge and make sure we have systems back."

Malcolm nodded to him as they left the engineers to do their work. On the way to the bridge they found a few doors that hadn't yet pressurized and dealt with them as they went along. "Malcolm, remind me to talk to someone in Starfleet Engineering Corps about making these doors easier to open manually."

"I think that's the whole point, sir. They don't want it to be easy to open manually, but yes sir. I'll remind you."

Once on the bridge Jon told Malcolm to run the paces of his station, making sure they had control of weapons and hull plating. Jon sat at the helm and checked for control of navigation. The intercom in Jon's helmet crackled and he heard Kelby's voice. "We have full oxygen, sir. You can take your helmet off now."

"Are you sure? Malcolm and I ran into some doors that wouldn't open."

"Yes sir. It'll still be a few minutes before all of the decks are fully pressurized, but we do have breathable air."

"Ok. Thank you, Commander." Jon took off his helmet and inhaled deeply through his nose. He turned his attention to the communication station and opened a channel to the Columbia.

Captain Hernandez was on the view screen. "Captain, looks like you got your ship back."

"Yes, Captain. Thank you for your help. We're still waiting for some decks to pressurize, if you wouldn't mind accommodating my crew a little longer?"

"Not at all, Captain. I took the liberty to contact Starfleet Command at let them know about the situation. They're pretty upset, as you can imagine, and ordered me to accompany you to Kantaanah to...talk...with the Prime Minister."

"Good. Maybe now we can get to the bottom of this. How's Trip doing by the way?"

"Complaining, of course. A bit upset that he can't be over there helping with getting the ship back together, but all in all, he's behaving himself."

It was another day and a half before Enterprise had the repairs that Columbia inflicted on the ship completed and Jon went to sickbay to check up on the progress Phlox had made with Trip.

He was pleased and a little concerned to see Trip unrestrained and sitting on the edge of the bed. "Are you sure it's safe for him to be unrestrained?" Jon asked Phlox.

"Oh yes, Captain. Perfectly safe."

"So he's no longer under the control of the brainwashing?"

"I didn't say that, but he has made remarkable progress. Take a look." Phlox showed him a scan of Trip's brain he had taken a few hours earlier. "You see here. Almost all of the stimulus is gone. We still have some work to do, a few more days I'd guess, but he is on the mend."

Jon now had another concern. "We're about to head back to Kantaanah. Do you think it will be safe for Trip? Will he fall back under the hypnosis?"

"Ah! Try for yourself. Say the word. Hmm."

Jon gave a leery look at Trip then said "Ka'Kato".

Trip looked at him and crinkled his eyebrows. "I swear, if I hear that word one more time, I'm gonna scream."

"Ok Trip. Let's try something else. Tell me about the food.

"I don't know. I'm not sure if they even gave me anything to eat. I guess the whole thing about catfish was something they planted in my mind."

"What do you remember about your time on Kantaanah?"

"Hell. I don't know if I even made it to Kantaanah. Last thing I remember is I was in the shuttle and there was a light that blinded me. Next thing I know is that I woke up for a few moments and these nasty images were in front of me and a voice telling me not to resist."

"A voice? Did you recognize the voice? Did you get a look at anyone?"

"No. I couldn't see who was talking to me. The room was pitch black except for the images in front of me. I didn't recognize the voice either."

"Was it the Prime Minister?"

"No. That much I'm sure of. I'm sorry. I know it's not a lotta help."

"It's ok Trip. One more thing. Can you tell me what this...mission of yours was? How it ties in with the Romulans?"

Trip looked down shaking his head and a tear dripped onto the floor. He looked back up, his eyes full of tears. "Cap'n. I'm sorry...so very sorry for everything that's happened. The ship, the crew..." Trip let out an audible sob. "...all those innocent lives. I'll never be free of this. Oh God I'm so sorry."

Phlox grabbed Jon by the arm. "That's enough questions for now, Captain. Commander Tucker needs some rest."

"But-"

Phlox cut him off sternly saying. "That's enough for now." Ushering Jon to the side and speaking low so that Trip wouldn't hear him. "He's in a fragile state at the moment. He's still trying to come to terms with what happened. Pushing him too hard could send him over the edge. Perhaps next time you come to see him, you can talk to him about something else. Hmm? Let him talk about this subject in his own time, in his own way, understand?"

"Ok. I understand. I didn't mean to upset him."

"I know, Captain, you're just trying to get answers, we all are. Commander Tucker included."

Jon walked back over to Trip. "You should get some rest now. I'll come by later to check on you, maybe bring you a movie to watch? A comedy? And I'll have chef cook a steak for you. Medium rare with mushroom gravy and baked potato? Sound good?"

Trip gave him a small smile. "Sounds good Cap'n. Thanks. And Cap'n. I really am sorry for everything."

"It wasn't your fault, Trip. It was theirs. They did this to you, and I promise they're going to pay for it. Get some rest. I'll see you later."

XXX

Back on the bridge Archer contacted Hernandez. "We're ready to head to Kantaanah."

"I'll be right beside you, Captain. Just give the order."

Jon looked at Travis. "Travis...hit it."

"Yes sir!" Travis said with determination then sent the Enterprise racing towards Kantaanah with Columbia at her side.

**Chapter 10**

Jon had contacted Starfleet Command to get their perspective of the incident surrounding the actions of the Enterprise and the actions of his chief engineer as well as insight as to the handling of the Kantaanah Prime Minister. He knew Te'Crik would deny any involvement, but for Trip to be abducted, brainwashed and sent back to Enterprise with the belief that he had spent those days on Kantaanah, in addition to Te'Crik himself saying Trip's trigger word, a word that Hoshi still could not find a translation for, was more than the overwhelming evidence he needed to prove Te'Crik's involvement.

He was told by Admiral Black that no charges would be filed against Trip as he was not in control, nor blamed, for his actions, and handling the situation with the Prime Minister was at his discretion, assuring that Command would back him. This gave Jon a feeling that the door was very wide open for him, and he liked that.

XXX

Phlox had decided that it was time for Trip to get out of sickbay for a short period to get back among the crew to re-establish himself. He had suggested that Trip take his lunch in the crew mess, telling him that he would accompany him to help ease the transition.

Trip sat at a table with Phlox, his head down low, looking at his tray of food. He could feel the eyes on him, hear the hushed whispers. His appetite escaped him and he pushed the tray away.

"Oh come now." Phlox said. "The ham sandwich is very good. You need to eat, Commander."

"I'm not hungry. Can we go back to sickbay now?"

"Not until you eat. You didn't eat your breakfast this morning, and you only had three bites of the steak the Captain brought last night."

"They're staring at me, talking about me. I don't like this. I just want to go now. Please?"

Phlox looked around the room. "No one is staring at you. Look for yourself hmm."

Trip kept his head down shaking it. He was uncomfortable here. He was wishing that the Captain would just dump him off at the first uninhibited planet they came to and let him rot there when he heard a female voice. "May I join you?" He didn't need to look up, he knew it was Hoshi.

He was still feeling guilty about what he was told he had done to her. Before he could tell her to go away, Phlox spoke up. "Of course! Please, sit down." And gave Hoshi a big Denobulan smile that, to this day, still freaked out Trip a little.

Hoshi sat next to Trip. "How are you feeling, Commander? Better?"

Trip didn't respond. She looked at Phlox and he gave her a hand signal that she should continue talking to Trip.

"We...uh...we got communications back up, but uh, I'm getting a bunch of background noise. I would love for you to take a look at it for me."

"Kelby can handle it." Trip muttered, still looking down.

"Kelby isn't as good as you are. I know you're the only one that can get my comms running to perfection."

"Kelby is a good engineer. He'll be a good chief too." Trip still kept his head down, but at least he was talking. Progress. Phlox thought to himself.

Hoshi put her hand on Trip's arm. "But Enterprise needs you. _We_ need you."

"No. No you don't. You don't need a lunatic on the ship." Trip said as a tear rolled down his face. "Hoshi. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you."

Hoshi softened and spoke to Trip as a friend, not a superior officer. "Trip, there's no need for you to apologize. It wasn't you. I don't know who that man was, but I know it wasn't you. No one on this ship thinks of you as a lunatic, least of all me. We all know that you were under some influence beyond your control. No one blames you for what happened. Time to stop blaming yourself." She leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Trip kept his head down but raised his eyes to meet hers. "You...you mean that? You're not mad at me?"

"No Trip. I'm not mad at you. I just want to see you get better and get your butt back on the bridge where it belongs." And gave him a big smile.

His smile was small, but it was there as he finally held his head up. He picked up a potato chip from his tray and popped it in his mouth.

XXX

Trip ate all of his sandwich and chips, having an enjoyable conversation with Hoshi. He even smiled a few times and Phlox took this as a good sign that he was slowly getting back to his old self, but was still concerned about him.

Back in sickbay Trip was feeling differently about his meal with Hoshi. Even though his appetite returned and he talked and smiled at Hoshi, inside he still felt a shell of himself. The smiles were only on the surface and the conversation was out of pleasantry.

He was still feeling guilty about the hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives he stole. "Phlox. I think I'd like to get the records of those ships that were destroyed. Take a look at the personnel on those ships."

Phlox was shocked by this request. "Why would you want to do that, Commander? What good would come of it?"

"I don't know. I guess I should know something about the people I..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

"No Commander. I don't think it would be a good idea right now. You still have too much guilt and pain to deal with those kind of thoughts. Maybe in time, when the wound isn't so fresh, when you're better able to deal with these feelings, but not right now."

"Ok. Phlox? Do you think Starfleet will put me on psych leave?"

"I don't know Commander. Is this a subject that's troubling you?"

"Kinda. I mean...it won't look good on my service record and I don't think I would like a padded cell very much. Is there anything you can do to make sure that doesn't happen?"

"First off, Commander, Earth psychiatry hasn't used padded cells in close to a hundred years. Second, I've already been in touch with Command and given my medical opinion that it would be in your best interest for me, rather than a stranger, to continue with your psychological care, as you already have a rapport with me."

Trip smiled at that. "Thanks doc. I appreciate that."

"Good. Time for your brain scan now."

"Ugh."

Phlox had just finished the brain scans and going over them as Jon walked into sickbay. He looked over at Trip, sitting on the bio-bed waiting for the results.

"How is he? Jon asked

"I just finished another scan and have wonderful news. See for yourself." Phlox said as he indicated to the screen. "The stimulus is completely gone."

"So, he's no longer under the brainwashing then?"

"That's correct, Captain. There is no longer a way for his actions to be controlled the way it has been."

"That's good to hear." Jon pulled Phlox to the side to speak with him without Trip overhearing."

Trip sat, watching the interaction between the two. When he saw Jon take Phlox to the side, a gambit of thoughts ran through his head. None of them good.

_He's come to take me to the brig. Starfleet is going to court martial me. I'll lose my commission and spend the rest of my life in the brig. Maybe a firing squad. Worse, a padded cell. I don't care what Phlox said. I know they still use padded cells, they just don't talk about it. My family name will be disgraced. Oh God! Mom, Dad. They'll have to live with the shame of having a son that's a murderer!_

Thinking of his parents, Trip began a silent prayer. _Lord God in Heaven. Please protect my parents. Protect my family. Allow me and only me to carry this burden. Let this shameful stain pass away from my mother and father. I pray in your name. Amen._

Jon spoke softly so that Trip wouldn't hear. "We're going to be at Kantaanah in about ten minutes. I want to take Trip with me. I want Trip the opportunity to face the one who did this to him. Maybe hearing the explanation directly from the Prime Minister himself will help Trip to deal with his turmoil, find some kind of closure."

Jon looked back at Trip who was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed, hands held together, head bent down and mouth moving. He knew that Trip was praying to his deity, but for what was uncertain.

Phlox thought about Jon's request for a moment. "I do agree that it might help him get answers to the questions he's been asking himself, but I'm worried about his mental state. Even though he's free of the brainwashing inflicted on him, he'll still need a great deal of counseling to help him cope. Perhaps a lifetime of counseling. I have to admit, Captain, I'm torn about this. I would suggest two things. One, if you do take the Commander with you, have a plan in place to get him out of there quickly if his emotions begin to overwhelm him. And two, let Commander Tucker decide if he wishes to join you on this mission or not."

Jon wasn't accustomed to allowing a subordinate make their own choice as to go on a mission or not, but considering the circumstances, agreed it would be best.

Jon walked over to the bed to stand in front of Trip, but before he could get a word out Trip said "Ok, Cap'n. You don't have to say it. I'll go to the brig quietly. I won't fight it."

Jon crinkled his eyebrows. "What are you talking about, Trip?"

"Ain't ya here to take me to the brig? To wait for my court martial?"

"Oh. I see. No Trip, you're not going to the brig. In fact, you're not going to be court martialed either. I spoke with Admiral Black a little while ago. He told me that the committee has agreed that you were not at fault in your actions, and therefore will not bring any changes against you."

A little weight lifted off of Trip's shoulders at least. "So what's going on then?"

"How do you feel about paying a little visit to someone?"

**Chapter 11**

Captains Archer and Hernandez, Malcolm, Hoshi and Trip had arrived at the Minister's office to confront him. Jon had taken Hoshi along as a translator, should the need arise. That was only a surface excuse however. The true motive for Hoshi's presence was to keep an eye on Trip. Should his emotions get the better of him, she would surely be the one to pick up on it before anyone else. It was her job to pull Trip out of the situation if it became necessary.

The five entered the office, ignoring the protests of the woman sitting at a desk outside the office door. When they walked in, all five pairs of eyes immediately went to a Romulan officer sitting in a chair in front of Te'Crik's desk.

"What the hell is a Romulan doing here?" Jon demanded.

Te'Crik gestured to the Romulan. "This is Commander Terrh. We are in trade negotiations. Why is this any of your concern, Captain? Why have you barged into my office like this?"

"Knock of the innocent act, Te'Crik. You know why we're here." Jon glanced in Trip's direction. Jon had deliberately called the Minister by his given name, rather than his title, to show that he no longer held respect for his position.

"Honesty, I don't know what you're referring to, Captain. I will warn you, however, that this intrusion will not sway in favor to my decision to bring Kantaanah into negotiating a treaty with your planetary alliance."

"Starfleet no longer has interest in a treaty with Kantaanah. Not after what you did to my chief engineer."

"What _I_ did? And exactly what did _I_ do?"

Trip's anger was starting to boil. "You used me! You brainwashed me! You forced me into horrible acts! You destroyed me, my reputation!"

Commander Terrh stood next to Te'Crik but stayed silent as Te'Crik replied. "Commander, I did nothing of the sort. In fact I'm offended that you would accuse me of something like that. I think it's time all of you leave now before I call my security in to have you removed."

"You know what I'll have removed?" Trip yelled.

"Trip! That's enough." Jon said forcefully. He knew Te'Crik would deny the accusations and wasn't surprised by this.

Captain Hernandez tried to catch Te'Crik off guard. "Tell me, Minister. What exactly was the problem with your weather control device anyway?"

Te'Crik looked shocked by this question and made a quick attempt to hide it.

_Ah ha! That's it! Good one, Erika. Way to knock him off balance._ Jon thought to himself as Te'Crik responded. "I'm not an engineer, so I wouldn't be able to tell you."

"As Prime Minister, surely you would have some sort of knowledge about a device that's so vital to your planet's survival." Erika continued.

"I'm not an expert. You'd have to talk to one of my engineering consultants."

Trip was suddenly strangely calm. "Well I'm an engineer _AND_ an expert. Funny thing, as hard as I try, I can't remember a damned thing about that device. I can't remember seeing it, let alone what I did to fix it. Hell! I couldn't even tell you what tools I used, if any. Now that's just something that doesn't happen to an engineer...least of all me. Right now I feel like pulling you apart one inch at a time until you tell me what the hell you did to me."

Terrh spoke at last. "We wouldn't want that would we, Commander?"

Trip stiffened so suddenly and so hard that Jon thought his spine would break. Trip's anger turned into a full blown rage. Trip took two large steps, grabbing Terrh by the shirt collar.

Hoshi started to take a step forward, but Jon put his hand on her arm and shook his head. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he would give Trip a little leeway to find out.

Trip was yelling now. "You! I know that voice! It was _YOU_!" He practically spat that last word out. "You were the one in that room! You were the one that brainwashed me! You did this! You!"

Terrh grinned at Trip. "Me? No Commander. I didn't do those things. It was you. You disabled the Enterprise's communications. You bypassed the warp core's computer system. You transmitted the command codes to Romulus. You murdered all those innocent people. _You_."

Tears began to well up in Trip's eyes. He spun Terrh so hard, Terrh lifted off his feet a few centimeters before Trip slammed him into the chair. "No! Not me! Not me!" Trip yelled. He suddenly let go of Terrh and took a step towards the group of his friends when he stopped in shock, eyes wide, as Malcolm pulled his phaser and fired in his direction. Trip spun and watched as Terrh was rendered unconscious, crumbling to the floor with a phase pistol in his hand.

Jon turned his attention to Te'Crik. "Why Te'Crik? Why did you do this? Why did you use Enterprise and my chief engineer this way?"

"You humans. You come out in space, dominating one sector at a time, forcing other worlds into an "alliance" with you, taking over their way of life. I won't let you do that to Kantaanah."

"Is that what the Romulans told you? That we're some sort of conquerors? That's just simply not true. They are the ones using you, manipulating you." Erika said.

"We have been in trade agreements with the Romulan Star Empire for over a hundred years. They have never lied, or manipulated us before. Why should I believe they'd start now? Thanks to you, Captain Hernandez, leaving us the details of your Starfleet, we know who the true manipulators are. You humans have only been out here a short time, and in that time, you've interfered with other worlds, imposing your ideals of democracy on them, then in what you claim as a "good deed", force them into an alliance. We had to do something to show them your true nature."

"Are you serious?" Archer said. "All of this because you think we're really trying to take over the galaxy? You're either a fool or insane."

Trip hung his head down, shaking it, as he quietly asked. "Why Enterprise? Why me?"

"We knew that Starfleet would send their best to come help us. What better way to send a message to the galaxy that humans can't be trusted than to have Starfleet's best turn on them? That's why we asked the Romulans to use their technology to help us with our plan. They agree with us that humans are a threat and you need to be stopped at all cost. As for you, Commander? Well...you just happened to be the chief engineer. That's all."

Trip's rage boiled to the surface once again as he grabbed Te'Crik by the shoulders. "You used me as some sort of..._pawn..._in your twisted delusion of what Starfleet...what humanity stands for!?"

Te'Crik looked at Trip then made a fatal error...he smirked.

The two Captains, Hoshi and Malcolm collectively turned their backs to Trip, pretending to study a painting on a nearby wall. Trip understood this gesture and it felt satisfying. However, not as satisfying as the feeling of crunching bones beneath his knuckles as Te'Crik's nose broke.

XXX

Back on the Enterprise's bridge, Erika Hernandez's image was on the main view screen. "The Starfleet Command Council will deal with the Prime Minister and Kantaanah from here. I'm sure there will be a full inquest as to their actions and the lives lost. The Denobulans and Vulcans have already stopped any trade deals that they started with Kantaanah, so that's something."

"Thanks for all of your help, Erika. Whenever I can return the favor..." Jon said.

Erika gave him a big smile. "You know, Trip is really an excellent engineer. I wouldn't mind having him back on the Columbia...permanent this time."

"I don't think so, Erika. Trip is all mine and he knows it." As he gave her a smile.

**Chapter 12**

It had been almost two months. Trip had gotten back to his duties. None of the crew brought up the Kantaanah innocent to him, not even Jon, which was fine by him. His parents wanted him to come back home, but he just couldn't face them right now. He went to his daily counseling sessions with Phlox and even though he verbally acknowledged that he was not at fault for the atrocities committed, he didn't feel that inside.

Trip was sitting on the bed in his quarters looking out the window. He saw the reflection of himself, but didn't recognize the person looking back at him. That person was sad, depressed, a dead shell of who he used to be. His dreams were tormented by the screams of the faceless people who no longer had life. He wanted it to end.

The door chime chirped. "Come in." He turned his head to see T'Pol standing in the door. "You wished to see me, Commander?" She asked.

"Yes. Please. Come in." He said as he stood. "I want to ask a favor of you."

T'Pol didn't speak, only cocked an eyebrow.

"T'Pol. I want you to perform a mind meld on me."

Trip knew what he was asking was not only out of the ordinary, but could cause T'Pol to be repulsed by him. It was only a few short years ago that Vulcans thought of mind melds as something dangerous, taboo even, but she surprised Trip by her question.

"To what end, Commander?"

"I want you to erase my memory of what happened. Of what I did. Of those innocent people."

T'Pol's shoulders sank a little. "Trip, I don't know if it's even possible for a mind meld to work that way...erasing a person's memory. Even if it could, I wouldn't. This is something you need to face, need to accept."

Trip's eyes filled with tears and he felt like he'd just been punched in the gut. "T'Pol. I can't live like this. I can't live knowing I killed all those people. Yes, I understand I wasn't in control of myself at the time...maybe that's what scares me the most, that ultimately I was the one too weak minded to stop it from happening."

"You weren't weak minded, Trip. They spent days performing continuous psychological torture, drugging you, breaking you. Not even a Vulcan could withstand that."

"Please T'Pol. Please help me." Trip begged.

She stepped closer to him, cupping his face in her hand. "I can't make you forget. I can't erase your memory. I'm sorry."

A tear fell from his eye as he felt her hand move to the side of his face, fingers splayed around his eye. He gasped a little as a fog of peace washed over his mind. He would never forget, but now he could at last begin to heal.

**_The End._**


End file.
